Objective: To elucidate the difficulties experienced by novice nurses who found employment in Chiba Prefecture after completing basic nursing education during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Methods: The difficulties experienced by novice nurses hired by medical institutions in Chiba Prefecture in fiscal year 2022 or 2023 were investigated using a Microsoft Forms survey comprising a total of 104 items specified in the revised version of the Guidelines for Training New Nursing Staff, specifically 16 items relating to “basic stance and attitude”, 70 items relating to the “technical aspect”, and 18 items relating to the “managerial aspect”.

Results: A total of 554 nurses were investigated. Difficulties were commonly reported for the following items: “Understanding patient needs from physical, psychological, and social aspects”, “Ventilator management”, “Care following death”, “Coordinating assigned tasks so they can be completed on time”, and “Considering the order of priority when providing nursing care for multiple patients”.

Discussion: While the present results were generally consistent with those of a previous study on the difficulties experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic by graduates of our university who had become novice nurses, the finding that many nurses experienced difficulty with “Understanding patient needs from physical, psychological, and social aspects” was attributed to the reduction in time spent on practical training due to the COVID-19 pandemic.